Beginners, avid recreational and amateur players, and professionals are constantly looking for new ways to learn and improve their swing fundamentals in a variety of sports, such as golf, tennis, baseball, lacrosse, hockey, billiards, and table tennis. Beginners may be interested in learning how to swing in a fundamentally sound manner, while recreational, amateur, and professional players may be interested in finding ways to improve their swings. While tools exist for these purposes, they are often expensive, and as a result, typically have a limited availability, such as to organizations and professional athletes. Further, many of these tools, such as golf simulators, may not provide a realistic user experience.
Devices and systems that are marginally more available to the everyday user are typically configured for use in only a single sport. Thus, for any person interested in obtaining data and/or collecting and using information for two sports, such as golf and tennis, that person must invest in two different products. Still further, another limitation of supposed “plug-and-play” options in this space requires the sensor to have a particular alignment with respect to the swinging device. For example, typically a golf sensor includes an arrow on it that must be aligned with a specific location on the golf club in order of the data to record and/or transmit data in any sort of accurate manner. As a result, users often lose data because of misalignment, either because the sensor was not properly aligned to start, or because the sensor shifts during use and becomes misaligned. Small imperfections in sensor orientation can lead to large errors in the shape of a swing detected by a sensor. The process of making sure the sensor is aligned from to start can be a bit cumbersome and tedious, as can checking to make sure alignment is properly maintained throughout the duration of use.
Additionally, to the extent existing sensors share data, the sharing typically involves transmitting the data to a “smart device,” e.g., a smart phone, which in turn can transmit the data to a third location, such as the cloud. However, relying on a smart device as part of the data sharing process can undesirably impact performance of the smart device. Because the smart device is often being used for multiple purposes, such as receiving telephone calls and e-mails, playing music, etc., the additional use for data recordation and/or transmission can bog down the device trying to perform too many tasks at the same time.
Accordingly, there is a need for plug-and-play sensors and/or systems that are accessible and useful for all users, regardless of their experience level and financial means. There is also a need for plug-and-play sensors and/or systems that can be used for multiple sports, and that can be user-friendly such that there is no specific orientation requirement for using that sensor with a particular swinging device. There is still a further need for alternative devices and systems can store, send, and retrieve data at optimal times so as not to impact ongoing functions being run on a smart device being used in conjunction with the data gathering and sending. Still further, sensors and/or systems that can be easily adapted for use in other, non-sports fields in which data is collected is also desirable.